Games we play

For an avid reader, there is something preternatural about reading an intriguing book at a nice quiet coffee shop. Amongst several such cafes there is this particular one in the city which makes the whole experience worthwhile. The best thing about this particular coffee shop is its location and being located next to the sea front, the evenings there are simply magnificent. The combination of a good book with a pot of freshly brewed coffee, at a place directly overlooking the sea on a bright crisp summer evening, with the sun setting in the backdrop on a fading crimson sky and a cool breeze stroking your face simply perks up the soul and leaves one high-spirited.

The incident that I wish to allude to happened on one of the evenings at the above mentioned place. I was sitting at that very wonderful cafe reading an interesting book. Now usually when I read a nice book I tend to get quite lost in it; and what with a beautiful backdrop and favourable conditions one can’t help but lose track of one’s surroundings. So, lost in wonder I was all of a sudden awakened by the soft rustle of a dress nearby and a whiff of perfume. Looking up I saw a lady pass by, who, taking up a table diagonally opposite me sat by herself without any company. Some faces, though not necessarily beautiful, have something seemingly interesting about them. When one looks at a face like that one simply keeps coming back to it after every short interval.

I therefore kept looking back and forth from my book to that face which somehow seemed to draw my attention without much apparent reason. Funny thing is that even she kept looking at me every now and then- Stealing a glance here and a glance there. We probably had some sort of connect which kept drawing both of us towards each other. There was this strong longing in me which was urging me to walk up to her and ask her name and to talk to her. The fact that even she kept coming back to me with her looks every now and then made it quite apparent about the way she felt.

Despite the strong urge to communicate with her i gave it a pass because i knew for a fact that somehow even if most of us feel that strong connect with someone we still hesitate in communicating, taking our urge to be a passing thing. This certainly isn’t my belief but many times I’ve seen the other person to think on those lines and have always realised that though one feels the connect one is hesitant when it comes to communicating- Some societal or even a personal barrier stopping us from doing what we would really want to do otherwise. Probably it’s our attitude to mark everything that we do as right or wrong which makes us demarcate our actions in one of those categories and thus refrains us from taking even a small step forward. Whatever the reason might be but I on the other hand have always felt that one should take ones chances and fail rather than regretting not doing what one wanted to do. Because otherwise, one simply sits and thinks that why the hell did they not take that leap off the cliff when they should have. And that probably they would drop to the ground like a rock but that is exactly what they wanted to do.... Or who knows as that is exactly when they get the wings to fly away.